Cultured Football #179
Cultured Football #179
Pyramid Scheme. Women's Super League. How to Play Football. Football Dictator. Leverkusen's Other Main Man.
English Football's pyramid scheme
By Sam Parry for
It is often assumed that the ultimate ambition for every club outside the Premier League is to make it to the top flight. And that is largely the case. Yet when you’ve achieved that ambition (and been dumped back down) you come to appreciate the value of the lower leagues, how competitive they are and why the Premier League is not all that it is made out to be.
Looking at every Women's Super League team's transfers
By Kim McCauley for Transfer Flow
Last season, the Women’s Super League delivered a title race for the ages and a perfect send-off to Emma Hayes, arguably the best manager ever in the history of the English game. But there’s more excitement in store with most clubs making a number of significant moves and fresh coaching ideas flowing into the league. Who, however, has done the best job in getting stronger?
Bonus Pick: There is another reason to pay close attention to women’s football this season, as a new entity - Women’s Professional Leagues Ltd. - is now running the league instead of the FA in the belief that they can help it get way bigger than it is at the moment.
There are more than two ways to play football
By for
Football is often talked about using cliches, and pundits tend to focus on two distinct styles of play - possession-heavy "front-foot attacking football" and counter-attacking "parking the bus." Yet, these styles are not as strictly defined as they may seem: football ideologues may not like it but the reality is that there are more than two ways to play the game.
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The African dictator with a penchant for sports
By for Play the Game
Football is rife with individuals and states trying to use it to ‘reshape’ their reputation. Few have done so as masterfully and away from public outcry as Rwanda’s Paul Kigali.
Carro's outspoken ambition takes Leverkusen to new heights
By Derek Rae for ESPN
Xabi Alonso is widely credited as the mastermind of Bayer Leverkusen’s rebirth, and with good reason. Yet there is someone pulling the strings in the back-ground who has been just as fundamental in their recent history.
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Every Saturday, Cultured Football brings you five great football articles you will enjoy reading.
Last Week’s Most Read: Scouting Ligue 2: Europe's Most Underrated Talent Factory
By Mohamed Mohamed for Analytics FC
Remember when Leicester signed 22 year-old winger Riyad Mahrez from Ligue 2 side Le Havre and built around him the team that would go on to win the Premier League? Surely bigger clubs no longer discount the potential that there is in the French second division. Or do they?